"Beyonce," the fifth solo studio album from the singer, unexpectedly released in the early hours of Dec. 13 without any prior fanfare, contains 14 new songs and 17 videos, and swiftly topped the iTunes album charts across the world.

Without prior marketing or promotion Beyonce simply announced the album's release with a post on her Instagram account.

The album also debuted at the top of the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, with 617,000 copies sold in the United States by the week ending Dec. 15, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.